THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


/¥«~c~- ??£  ?uljL  £*t~~~» 4l  . 


zJt^fc^c*^-  /  r  *  y 


Exemplar  En 


ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON 


From  photo  by 

James  Notman, 

270  Boyhton  Street,  Boston. 


rvobert   l^ouis    Otevenson 


WITH     NUMEROUS     ILLUSTRATIONS 


THIRD    EDITION.        FIFTH     THOUSAND 


NEW    YORK 

JAMES    POTT    AND    COMPANY 

114    FIFTH   AVENUE 

LONDON :    HODDER    AND    STOUGHTON 


PRINTED    BY 

HAZELL,    WATSON      AND    VINEY,    LD., 

LONDON   AND   AYLESBURY, 

ENGLAND. 


)°\ 


r.  A 


LIST     OF     ILLUSTRATIONS 


2 
2 

4 


5 


5 


Portrait  of  Rorert  Louis  Stevenson  .....        Frontispiece 

Rohert  Louis  Stevenson  at  the  age  of  four      ......       1 

The  Rev.  Lewis  Balfour  in  his  Youth 

The  Rev.  Lewis  Balfour,  Grandfather  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson 

No.  8,  Howard  Place,  Edinburgh         .... 

Thomas  Stevenson,  Father  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson 

No.  17,  Heriot  Row,  Edinburgh  ..... 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson  at  the  age  of  six 

Colinton  Manse   ............        6 

Swanston  Cottage         ...........       7 

Mrs.  Thomas  Stevenson,  Mother  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson    ...       8 

Mr.  Thomas  Stevenson  and  his  Son,  when  Louis  was  ten  years  old         .        9 

A  Photograph  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  in  Fancy  Dress        .  .       9 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson  at  the  age  of  15  .         .         .         .         .         .10 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson  at  the  age  of  20  .         .         .         .         .         .10 

Alison  Cunningham  ("  Cummy  ")   .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .11 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson  (from  a  Drawing  by  A.   S.   Bovd)  .  .  .12 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson  at  the  age  of  25  .         .         .         .         .         .13 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson  in  the  "Bart's'1  Hat,  1876  .         .         .         .13 

Chalet  La  Solitude,  Hyeres        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .14 

Mrs.  Robert  Louis  Stevenson      .  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .15 

A    Photograph   taken    during    Robert  Louis    Stevenson's  Second  Visit   to 

America  in  1887  .         .         .  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .16 


852324 


IV 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

.  IT 

.  17 

.  18 

R.A.)  19 

.  20 

.  21 


Molokai,  Hawaiian"  Islands,  the  Terrible  Leper  Settlement    . 

Robert  Louis  Stkvknson  at  the  age  of  44  .... 

Stevenson's  House  at  Vailima     ....... 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson  (from  a  Painting  by  Sir  Win.  Blake  Richmond, 

Robert  Lol'is  Stkvknson  (from  a  Painting  by  Count  Nerli) 

Dining-  and  Reception-Hall  in  the  Residence  at  Vailima 

Portrait  of    Tusitala  ("Teller  of    Talks")  with  Native  Chief  Tui-ma- 
le-alh-fano   .......... 

Robert  Loits  Stkvknson  and  his  Favourite  Horse  "Jack" 

Mataafa,  the  '^Rebel"  King      ....... 

Tkmisinoka,  the  King  of  Apemama       ...... 

Kava  Drinking  at  the  Opening  of  the  Road  made  by  the  Samoans  for 
Mr.  Stevenson,  October  1894        ...... 

Stevenson  playing  his  Flageolet  ...... 

A    Portrait    of    Mrs.    Strong,    Stevenson's    Step-daughter    and    valued 

Amanuensis    ............     27 

The  San  Francisco  Memorial  to  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  .         .         .27 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson  at  the  House  of  the  Hon.  B.  R.  Wise,  Sydney     28 

H.M.S.   Curacoa  at  Apia,  Samoa  .........     29 

Entertainment    given    to    the    Band    of    the    Katoomba  by    Mr.    and    Mrs. 
Robert  Louis  Stevenson  at  Vailima     ..... 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  from  the  Medallion  by  A.  St.  Gaudens 

The  Tomb  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  in  Samoa 

loto  alofa the  "  road  of  the  loving  heart" 

The   Last    Resting-place  of  Robert    Louis    Stevenson  on    the    Summit  of 
Mount  Vaea  .......... 


22 
23 
24 
24 

25 
26 


30 
31 
32 
33 

35 


THE    PERSONALITY    AND    STYLE    OF 

ROBERT    LOUIS    STEVENSON 


A! 


S  the  years  pass  they  disengage  the  virtue 
of  a  writer,  and  decide  whether  or  not 
he  has  force  enough  to  live.  Will  Stevenson 
live  ?  Undoubtedly.  He  is  far  more  secure 
of  immortality  than  many  very  popular 
writers.  The  sale  of  his  books  may  not  be 
great,  and  he  may  even  disappear  from  the 
marts  of  literature  now  and  then,  but  he  will 
always  be  revived,  and  it  may  turn  out  that 
his  reputation  may  wear  as  well  as  that  of 
Charles  Lamb.  For  he  engages  his  readers 
by  the  double  gift  of  personality  and  style. 
The  personality  of  Stevenson  is  strangely 
In  the  first  place  it  was  a  double  personality.  In  his 
journey  to  the  Cevennes  he  reflects  that  every  one  of  us  travels  about 
with  a  donkey.  In  his  "  Strange  Case  of  Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde," 
the  donkey  becomes  a  devil.  Every  Jekyll  is  haunted  by  his  Hyde. 
Somebody  said  that  "  The  Strange  Case  of  Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr. 
Hyde  "  showed  Stevenson  as  Poe,  with  the  addition  of  a  moral  sense. 
Critics  may  differ  as  to  the  exact  literary  value  of  the  famous  little 
book,  but  as  an  expression  of  Stevenson's  deepest  thought  about  life 
it  will  retain  its  interest.  He  was  not  content  to  dwell  in  a  world 
where  the  lines  are  drawn  clear,  where  the  sheep  are  separated  from 
the  goats.  He  would  have  a  foot  in  both  worlds,  content  to  dwell 
neither  wholly  with  the  sheep  nor  wholly  with  the  goats.  No  doubt 
his  ruling  interest  was  in  ethical  problems,  and  he  could  be  stern  in 


from  a  photo  kindly  supplied  by 
Dr.  H.  Bellyse  Bailcion 

ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON 
AT  THE  AGE  OF  FOUR 

From  a  drawing  by  James  Archer, 
made  in  1854 


arresting. 


ROBERT    LOUIS    STKVENSON 


his  moral  judgments,  as,  for  example,  in  his 
discussion  of  the  character  of  Burns.     lie 

was  by  nature  and  training  religious,  "  some- 
thing of  the  Shorter  Cateehist."  His  earliest 
publication  was  a  defence  of  the  Covenanters, 
iiid  in  his  last  days  he  established  close 
friendships  with  the  Samoan  missionaries. 
Yet  he  was  by  no  means  "'orthodox,"  either 
in  ethics  or  in  religion.  Much  as  he  wrote 
on  conduct,  there  were  certain  subjects,  and 
these  the  most  difficult,  on  which  he  never 
spoke   out.      On  love,  for  example,  and  all 

that 
with    it, 


goes 


From  a  photo  kindly  supplied  by 
Mr.  Graham  Balfour 

THE   REV.    LEWIS   BALFOUR    IN 
HIS   YOUTH 


it 


From  a  plwto  kindly  supplied  by  Mr.  Graham  Balfour 

THE    REV.    LEWIS   BALFOUR,   GRANDFATHER 
OF   ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON 


is  quite  certain  that  he  never  spoke 
his  full  mind — to  the  public  at  least. 
Another  very  striking  quality  in 
his  personality  was  his  fortitude. 
He  was  simply  the  bravest  of  men. 
Now  and  then,  as  in  his  letter  to 
George  Meredith,  he  lets  us  see  under 
what  disabling  conditions  he  fought 
his  battle.  Human  beings  in  a  world 
like  this  are  naturally  drawn  to  one 
wrho  suffers,  and  will  not  let  himself 
be  mastered  or  corrupted  by  suffering. 
They  do  not  care  for  the  prosperous, 
dominant,  athletic,  rich  and  long-lived 
man.  They  may  conjecture,  indeed, 
that  behind  all  the  bravery  there  is 
much  hidden  pain,  but  if  it  is  not 
revealed  to  them  they  cannot  be  sure. 


ROBERT    LOUIS   STEVENSON 


'3 


NO.    8,    HOWARD   PLACE, 
EDINBURGH 

The  House  where 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson  was  born 

on  the  13th  November,  1850 

Front  a  plioto  by 
1     J.  Patrick,  Edinburgh 


They  love  Charles  Lamb  for  the  manner  in  which  he  went  through 
his  trial,  and  they  love  him  none  the  less  because  he  was  sometimes 
overborne,  because  on  occasions  he  stumbled  and  fell.  Charlotte 
Bronte  was  an  example  of  fortitude  as  remarkable  as  Stevenson, 
but  she  was  not  brave  after  the  same  manner.  She  allowed  the 
clouds  to  thicken  over  her  life  and  make  it  grey.  Stevenson  some- 
times found  himself  in  the  dust,  but  he  recovered  and  rose  up  to  speak 
fresh  words  of  cheer.  He  took  thankfully  and  eagerly  whatever  life 
had  to  offer  him  in  the  way  of  affection,  of  kindness,  of  admiration. 
Nor  did  he  ever  in  any  trouble  lose  his  belief  that  the  Heart  of 
things  was  kind.  In  the  face  of  all  obstacle  he  went  steadily  on  with 
his  work,  nor  did  he  ever  allow  himself  to  Ml  below  the  best  that 
he  could  do.     An  example  so  touching,  so  rare,  so  admirable,  is  a 


ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON 


Wmm 


mm 


From  a  photo  by  J .  t'atrick,  EdintmrgK 

NO.   17,   HERIOT   ROW,   EDINBURGH 

In  May,  1S57,  Robert  Louis  Stevenson's  parents  took  up  their  abode  at  17,  Heriot  Row,  which  remained  the 
family  headquarters  until  the  death  of  Thomas  Stevenson,  in  1887 


reinforcement    which    weary    humanity    cannot 
spare. 

With  these  qualities,  and,  indeed,  as  their 
natural  result,  Stevenson  had  a  rare  courtesy. 
He  was,  in  the  words  of  the  old  Hebrew  song, 
"  lovely  and  pleasant,"  or  rather,  as  Robertson 
Smith  translated  it,  "  lovely  and  winsome,"  in  all 
his  bearings  to  men  of  all  kinds,  so  long  as  they 
did  not  fall  under  the  condemnation  of  his  moral 
judgment.  With  a  personality  so  rich,  Stevenson 
had  the  power  of  communicating  himself.  He 
could  reveal  his  personality  without  egotism, 
without    offence. 


ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON 

Many    writers    of    charming      at  the  age  of  six 


G 


KOBEUT    LOUIS    STEVENSON 


■■■■ 


COLINTON   MANSE 

The  Residence  of 

Stevenson's  Maternal 

Grandfather 


From  a  filiate  by 
J.  Pat:  ick,  Edinburgh 


individuality  cannot  show  themselves  in  their  books.  There  is  as  little 
of  themselves  in  their  novels  as  there  would  be  in  a  treatise  on 
mathematics,  if  they  could  write  it.  Perhaps  less.  There  have  been 
mathematicians  like  Augustus  de  Morgan,  who  could  put  humour 
and  personality  into  a  book  on  geometry. 

But  Stevenson  had  not  only  a  personality,  he  had  a  style.  His 
golden  gift  of  words  can  never  be  denied.  He  may  sometimes  have 
been  too  "  precious,"  but  the  power  of  writing  as  he  could  write  is  so 
uncommon  that  he  must  always  stand  with  a  very  few.  We  believe 
that  Stevenson's  style  is  largely  an  expression  of  his  courtesy.  He 
wished  as  a  matter  of  mere  politeness  and  goodwill  to  express  himself 
as  well  as  he  could.  In  fact,  it  was  this  courtesy  that  led  him  to  his 
famous  paradox  about  the  end  of  art,  his  characterisation  of  the  artist 
as  the  Son  of  Joy.     "  The  French  have  a  romantic  evasion  for  one 


ROHERT    LOUIS    STEVENSON 


SWANSTON 
COTTAGE 


The  Country  Home  of 
Stevenson's  Parents 


From  a  photo  by 
J.  Patrick,  Edinburgh 


employment,  and  call  its  practitioners  the  Daughters  of  Joy.  The 
artist  is  of  the  same  family  ;  he  is  of  the  Sons  of  Joy,  chooses  his  trade 
to  please  himself,  gains  his  livelihood  by  pleasing  others,  and  has 
parted  with  something  of  the  sterner  dignity  of  man."  The  theory 
that  all  art  is  decoration  cannot  be  seriously  considered.  It  was 
certainly  not  true  of  Stevenson's  art.  He  wished  to  please,  but  he  had 
other  and  higher  ends.  He  had  to  satisfy  his  exacting  conscience,  and 
he  obeyed  its  demands  sincerely  and  righteously,  and  to  the  utmost  of 
his  power.  But  he  was  too  good  a  man  to  be  satisfied  even  with  that. 
Milton  put  into  all  his  work  the  most  passionate  labour,  but  he  did  not 
believe  that  pleasure  was  the  end  of  art.  Nor  would  he  have  been 
satisfied  by  complying  with  his  conscience.  He  had  a  message  to 
deliver,  and  he  delivered  it  in  the  most  effective  forms  at  his  command. 
Stevenson  had  his  message,  too,  and  uttered  it  right  memorably.      If 


8 


ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON 


MRS.   THOMAS   STEVENSON,    MOTHER  OF   ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON 


the  message  had  to  be  put  in  a  few  words,  they  would  be  these  :  Good 
my  soul,  be  brave!  He  was  bold  enough  to  call  Tennyson  a  Son  of 
Joy,  but  he  would  have  assented  with  all  his  soul  to  Tennyson's  lines  : 

And  here  the  singer  for  his  .art 

Not  all  in  vain  may  plead  ; 
The  song  that  nerves  the  nation's  heart 


Is  in  itself  a  deed. 


W.  Robertson  Nicoll. 


THE     CHARACTERISTICS     OF 

ROBERT   LOUIS    STEVENSON 

ALL  things  and  all  men  are  underrated,  much  hy  others,  especially 
by  themselves  ;  and  men  grow  tired  of  men  just  as  they  do  of 
green  grass,  so  that  they  have  to  seek  for  green  carnations.  All  great 
men  possess  in  themselves  the  qualities  which  will  certainly  lay  them 
open  to  censure  and  diminishment ;  but  these  inevitable  deficiencies 
in  the  greatness  of  great  men  vary  in  the  widest  degree  of  variety. 


From  a  photo  kindly  supplied  by 
Dr.  H.  Bellyse  Baildon 

MR.   THOMAS   STEVENSON   AND   HIS 
SON,  WHEN  LOUIS  WAS  TEN  YEARS  OLD 


From  a  photo  kindly  supplied  by 
Dr.  If.  Bellyse  Baildon 

A    PHOTOGRAPH   OF   ROBERT   LOUIS 
STEVENSON   IN   FANCY   DRESS 


10 


ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON 


Stevenson  is  open  to  a  particularly 
subtle,  a  particularly  effective  and  a 
particularly  unjust  disparagement. 
The   advantage    of 


great    men 


like 


ROBERT  LOUIS   STEVENSON   AT  THE 
AGE  OF    is 


workman.  The  mistake 
given  rise  to  this  conception  is  one 
that  has  much  to  answer  for  in 
numerous  departments  of  modern  art, 
literature,  religion,  philosophy,  and 
politics.  The  supreme  and  splendid 
characteristic  of  Stevenson,  was  his 
levity  ;  and  his  levity  was  the  flower 
of  a  hundred  grave  philosophies.  The 
strong  man  is  always  light :  the  weak 
man  is  always  heavy.  A  swift  and 
casual  agility  is  the  mark  of  bodily 
strength :  a  humane  levity  is  the  mark 
of  spiritual  strength.  A  thoroughly 
strong  man  swinging  a  sledge-hammer 
can  tap  the   top   of  an    eggshell.      A 


Blake  or  Browning  or  Walt  Whit- 
man is  that  they  did  not  observe 
the  niceties  of  technical  literature. 
The  far  greater  disadvantage  of 
Stevenson  is  that  he  did.  Because 
he  had  a  conscience  about  small 
matters  in  art,  he  is  conceived  not 
to  have  had  an  imagination  about 
big  ones.  It  is  assumed  by  some 
that  he  must  have  been  a  bad 
architect,  and  the  only  reason  that 
they  can  assign  is  that  he  was  a  good 
which     has 


ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON 
AT  THE   AGE   OF   20 


ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON 


11 


ALISON 

CUNNINGHAM 

("CUMMY") 


weaker  man  swinging  a  sledge-hammer  will  break  the  table  on 
which  it  stands  into  pieces.  Also,  if  he  is  a  very  weak  man,  he 
will  be  proud  of  having  broken  the  table,  and  call  himself  a  strong 
man  dowered  with  the  destructive  power  of  an  Imperial  race. 

This  is,  superficially  speaking,  the  peculiar  interest  of  Stevenson. 
He  had  what  may  be  called  a  perfect  mental  athleticism,  which  enabled 
him  to  leap  from  crag  to  crag,  and  to  trust  himself  anywhere  and  upon 
any  question.  His  splendid  quality  as  an  essayist  and  controversialist 
was  that  he  could  always  recover  his  weapon.  He  was  not  like  the 
average  swashbuckler  of  the  current  parties,  tugged  at  the  tail  of  his 
own  sword.  This  is  what  tends,  for  example,  to  make  him  stand  out 
so  well  beside  his  unhappy  friend  Mr.  Henley,  whose  true  and  un- 
questionable affection  has  lately  taken  so  bitter  and  feminine  a  form. 


Fro»i  a  drawing  by  A.  S  Boyd 

ROBERT  LOUIS   STEVENSON 

Reproduced  from  Dr.  H.  B.  Baildon's  "  Life  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson," 

by  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Chatto  &  Windus 


ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON 


13 


ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON 
AT  THE  AGE  OF   25 


Mr.  Henley,  an  admirable  poet  and  critic,  is, 
nevertheless,  the  man  par  excellence  who  breaks 
the  table  instead  of  tapping  the  egg.  In  his 
recent  article  on  Stevenson  he  entirely  misses 
this  peculiar  and  supreme  point  about  his 
subject. 

He  there  indulged  in  a  very  emotional 
remonstrance  against  the  reverence  almost 
universally  paid  to  the  physical  misfortunes  of 
his  celebrated  friend.  "  If  Stevenson  was  a 
stricken  man,"  he  said,  "  are  we  not  all  stricken 
men  ? '  And  he  proceeded  to  call  up  the  images 
of  the  poor  and  sick,  and  of  their  stoicism  under 

their  misfortunes.     If  sentimentalism  be  definable  as  the  permitting 

of  an  emotional  movement  to  cloud  a  clear  intellectual  distinction, 

this  most  assuredly  is  sentimentalism, 

for    it    would    be    impossible    more 

completely  to  misunderstand  the  real 

nature  of  the  cult  of  the  courage  of 

Stevenson.     The  reason  that  Steven- 
son  has  been    selected    out   of  the 

whole  of  suffering  humanity  as  the 

type  of  this  more  modern  and  occult 

martyrdom  is  a  very  simple  one.     It 

is  not  that  he  merely  contrived,  like 

any  other  man  of  reasonable  manli- 
ness, to  support  pain  and  limitation 

without  whimpering  or  committing 

suicide  or  taking  to  drink.      In  that 

sense  of  course  we  are  all  stricken    ( 

men   and  we   are   all   stoics.      The    t— 

_  „       _  ,  .  ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON   IN  THE 

ground    of     Stevenson s    particular  "bart.s"  hat,  1876 


u 


ROHEKT    LOUIS    STEVENSON 


fascination  in  this  matter  was  that 
lie  was  the  exponent,  and  the  suc- 
cessful exponent,  not  merely  of 
negative  manliness,  but  of  a  positive 
and  lyric  gaiety.  This  wounded 
soldier  did  not  merely  refrain  from 
groans,  he  gave  forth  instead  a  war 
song,  so  juvenile  and  inspiriting  that 
thousands  of  men  without  a  scratch 
went  hack  into  the  battle.  This 
cripple  did  not  merely  bear  his  own 
burdens,  but  those  of  thousands  of 
contemporary  men.  No  one  can 
feel  anything  but  the  most  inexpres- 
sible kind  of  reverence  for  the 
patience  of  the  asthmatic  charwoman 
or  the  consumptive  tailor's  assistant. 
Still  the  charwoman  does  not  write 
"  Aes  Triplex,"  nor  the  tailor  "  The 
Child's  Garden  of  Verses."  Their  stoicism  is  magnificent,  but  it  is 
stoicism.  But  Stevenson  did  not  face  his  troubles  as  a  stoic,  he  faced 
them  as  an  Epicurean.  He  practised  with  an  austere  triumph  that 
terrible  asceticism  of  frivolity  which  is  so  much  more  difficult  than 
the  asceticism  of  gloom.  His  resignation  can  only  be  called  an  active 
and  uproarious  resignation.  It  was  not  merely  self-sufficing,  it  was 
infectious.  His  triumph  was,  not  that  he  went  through  his  misfortunes 
without  becoming  a  cynic  or  a  poltroon,  but  that  he  went  through  his 
misfortunes  and  emerged  quite  exceptionally  cheerful  and  reasonable 
and  courteous,  quite  exceptionally  light-hearted  and  liberal-minded. 
His  triumph  was,  in  other  words,  that  he  went  through  his  misfortunes 
and  did  not  become  like  Mr.  Henley. 

There  is  one  aspect  of  this  matter  in  particular,  which  it  is  as  well 


From  a  photo  kindly  supplied  by  Mr.  Graham  Balfour 

CHALET   LA  SOLITUDE,    HYERES 

Where  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  lived  from  March,  1883, 
to  July,  1884 


From  a  thoto  by  Mendelssohn 

MRS.   ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON 
The  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  took  place  in  San  Francisco  in  the  Spring  of  1880 


15 


1G 


ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON 


Mrs  Robert  Louis  Stevenson 


Lloyd  Osbourne 


Sport 


Robert  Louis    Stevenson 


PHOTOGRAPH 

TAKEN   DURING 

ROBERT   LOUIS 

STEVENSON'S 

SECOND   VISIT   TO 

AMERICA 

IN    1887 


to  put  somewhat  more  clearly  before  ourselves.  This  triumph  of 
Stevenson's  over  his  physical  disadvantages  is  commonly  spoken  of 
with  reference  only  to  the  elements  of  joy  and  faith,  and  what  may 
be  called  the  new  and  essential  virtue  of  cosmic  courage.     But  as  a 


ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON 


17 


MOLOKAI, 
HAWAIIAN 

ISLANDS,   THE 

TERRIBLE 

LEPER 

SETTLEMENT 


Which  Stevenson  visited 
in  May,  1889 

From  a  photo  kindly 

supplied  by 
Mr.  Graham  Balfour 


matter  of  fact  the  peculiarly  in- 
teresting detachment  of  Stevenson 
from  his  own  body,  is  exhibited 
in  a  quite  equally  striking  way 
in  its  purely  intellectual  aspect. 
Apart  from  any  moral  qualities, 
Stevenson  was  characterised  by 
a  certain  airy  wisdom,  a  certain 
light  and  cool  rationality,  which 
is  very  rare  and  very  difficult 
indeed  to  those  who  are  greatly 
thwarted  or  tormented  in  life. 
It  is  possible  to  find  an  invalid 
capable  of  the  work  of  a  strong 
man,  but  it  is  very  rare  to  find 
an  invalid  capable  of  the  idleness 
of  a  strong  man.  It  is  possible 
to  find  an  invalid  who  has  the 
faith   which    removes  mountains, 


ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON  AT  THE  AGE  OF  44 

From  a  painting  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery, 

by  Percy  F.  S.  Spence 


18 


KOUERT   LOUIS    STEVENSON 


^Mk  ^ 


STEVENSON'S  HOUSE  AT  VAILIMA 


but  not  easy  to  find  an  invalid  who  has  the  faith  that  puts  up  with 
pessimists.  It  may  not  be  impossible  or  even  unusual  for  a  man 
to  lie  on  his  back  on  a  sick  bed  in  a  dark  room  and  be  an  optimist. 
But  it  is  very  unusual  indeed  for  a  man  to  lie  on  his  back  on  a 
sick  bed  in  a  dark  room  and  be  a  reasonable  optimist:  and  that 
is  what  Stevenson,  almost  alone  of  modern  optimists,  succeeded 
in  being. 

The  faith  of  Stevenson,  like  that  of  a  great  number  of  very  sane 
men,  was  founded  on  what  is  called  a  paradox — the  paradox  that 
existence  was   splendid   because  it  was,  to  all  outward  appearance, 


ROBERT    LOUIS    STEVENSON 


19 


desperate.  Paradox,  so  far  from  being  a  modern  and  fanciful  matter, 
is  inherent  in  all  the  great  hypotheses  of  humanity.  The  Athanasian 
Creed,  for  example,  the  supreme  testimony  of  Catholic  Christianity, 
sparkles  with  paradox  like  a  modern  society  comedy.  Thus,  in 
the  same  manner,  scientific  philosophy  tells  us  that  finite  space  is 
unthinkable  and  infinite  space  is  unthinkable.  Thus  the  most 
influential  modern  metaphysician,  Hegel,  declares  without  hesita- 
tion, when  the  last  rag  of  theology  is  abandoned,  and  the  last  point 
of  philosophy  passed,  that  existence  is  the  same  as  non-existence. 


ROBERT   LOUIS 
STEVENSON 


From  a  painting  in  the 

National  Portrait  Gallery, 

by  Sir  Win.  Blake 

Richmond,  R.A. 


Collection  of  Augustin 
Rischgitz 


20 


ROBERT    LOUIS   STEVENSON 


ROBERT 

LOUIS 

STEVENSON 

From 

a  painting 

by 

Count  Nerli 

Reproduced  from 

Dr.  H.  B.  Baildon's 

"  Life  of 

Robert  Louis 

Stevenson," 

by  kind 

permission  of 

Messrs. 

Chatto  &  Windus 


Thus    the    brilliant   author   of  "  Lady    Windermere's    Fan,"   in   the 
electric   glare  of  modernity,   finds  that   life    is   much  too  important 


ROHE11T   LOUIS   STEVENSON 


21 


DINING-  AND   RECEPTION-HALL   IN   THE   RESIDENCE   AT   VAILIMA 


to  be  taken  seriously.      Thus   Tertullian,  in  the  first  ages  of  faith, 
said  "  Credo  quia  impossibile." 

We  must  not,  therefore,  be  immediately  repelled  by  this  para- 
doxical character  of  Stevenson's  optimism,  or  imagine  for  a  moment 
that  it  was  merely  a  part  of  that  artistic  foppery  or  "  fuddling 
hedonism "  with  which  he  has  been  ridiculously  credited.  His 
optimism  was  one  which,  so  far  from  dwelling  upon  those  flowers  and 
sunbeams  which  form  the  stock-in-trade  of  conventional  optimism, 
took  a  peculiar  pleasure  in  the  contemplation  of  skulls,  and  cudgels, 
and  gallows.  It  is  one  thing  to  be  the  kind  of  optimist  who  can 
divert  his  mind  from  personal  suffering  by  dreaming  of  the  face  of  an 


PORTRAIT   OF   TUSITALA   ("TELLER   OK   TALES")   WITH   THE 

NATIVE  CHIEF   TUI-MA-LE-ALII-FANO 

Reproduced  from  "  The  Vailima  Letters  "  by  kind  permission  of 

Messrs.  Methuen  &  Co. 


HUBERT    LOUIS    STEVENSON 


2a 


ROEERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON   AND   HIS   FAVOURITE   HORSE   "JACK" 
(Reproduced  from  "The  Vailima  letters,"  by  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Methuen  &  Co.) 


angel,  and  quite  another  thing  to  be  the  kind  of  optimist  who  can 
divert  it  by  dreaming  of  the  foul  fat  face  of  Long  John  Silver.  And 
this  faith  of  his  had  a  very  definite  and  a  very  original  philosophical 
purport.  Other  men  have  justified  existence  because  it  was  a 
harmony.  He  justified  it  because  it  was  a  battle,  because  it  was 
an  inspiring  and  melodious  discord.  He  appealed  to  a  certain  set 
of  facts  which  lie  far  deeper  than  any  logic — the  great  paradoxes 
of  the  soul.  For  the  singular  fact  is  that  the  spirit  of  man  is  in 
reality  depressed  by  all  the  things  which,  logically  speaking,  should 
encourage  it,  and  encouraged  by  all  the  things  which,  logically 
speaking,  should  depress  it.  Nothing,  for  example,  can  be  conceived 
more  really   dispiriting  than    that   rationalistic   explanation    of  pain 


24 


ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON 


MATAAFA,    THE   "REBEL"   KIXG 

Who  was  defeated  and  imprisoned  in  August  1893,  upon  the 
outbreak  of  war  in  the  Island 


man  suffers  most  is, 
of  course,  the  supreme 
doctrine  of  Christi- 
anity ;  millions  have 
found  not  merely  an 
elevating  but  a  sooth- 
ing story  in  the  un- 
deserved sufferings  of 
Christ ;  had  the  suffer- 
ings been  deserved  we 
should  all  have  been 
pessimists. 

Stevenson's   great 
ethical  and  philo- 


which  conceives  it  as  a 
thing  laid  by  Providence 
upon  the  worst  people.  No- 
thing, on  the  other  hand,  can 
be  conceived  as  more  exalting 
and  reassuring  than  that 
great  mystical  doctrine  which 
teaches  that  pain  is  a  thing 
laid  by  Providence  upon  the 
best.  AVe  can  accept  the 
agony  of  heroes,  while  we 
revolt  against  the  agony  of 
culprits.  We  can  all  endure 
to  regard  pain  when  it  is 
mysterious;  our  deepest 
nature  protests  against  it  the 
moment  that  it  is  rational. 
This  doctrine  that  the   best 


TEMBINOKA,    THE   KING   OF  APEMAMA 


25 


26 


KOttKHT   LOUIS   STEVENSON 


STEVENSON   PLAYING   HIS    FLAGEOLET 


sophical  value  lies  in  the  fact  that  he  realised  this  great  paradox 
that  life  becomes  more  fascinating'  the  darker  it  grows,  that  life  is 
worth  living  only  so  far  as  it  is  difficult  to  live.  The  more  stedfastly 
and  gloomily  men  clung  to  their  sinister  visions  of  duty,  the  more, 
in  his  eyes,  they  swelled  the  chorus  of  the  praise  of  things.  He 
was  an  optimist  because  to  him  everything  was  heroic,  and  nothing 
more  heroic  than  the  pessimist.  To  Stevenson,  the  optimist, 
belong  the  most  frightful  epigrams  of  pessimism.  It  was  he 
who  said  that  this  planet  on  which  we  live  was  more  drenched  with 
blood,  animal  and  vegetable,  than  a  pirate  ship.  It  was  he  who 
said  that  man  was  a  disease  of  the  agglutinated  dust.  And  his 
supreme    position    and    his    supreme   difference   from    all    common 


ROBERT    LOUIS   STEVENSON 


27 


optimists  is  merely  this,  that  all  common 
optimists  say  that  life  is  glorious  in  spite  of 
these  things,  but  he  said  that  all  life  was 
glorious  because  of  them.  He  discovered  that 
a  battle  is  more  comforting  than  a  truce. 
He  discovered  the  same  great  fact  which  was 
discovered  by  a  man  so  fantastically  different 

.     from     him     that     the 


From  a  photo  kindly  supplied  by 

Mr.  Graham  Balfour 

THE  SAN    FRANCISCO 

MEMORIAL   TO 

ROBERT   LOUIS  STEVENSON 

Erected    by  public  subscription 

in    1897 


mere  name  of  him  may 

1         • ,  •  ,1  j      A  PORTRAIT  OF  MRS.   STRONG, 

raise  a  legitimate  laug.i  stevensons  step-daughter 

^  1  T»      4.1  and  valued  amanuensis 

—General  Booth. 

He  discovered,  that  is  to  say,  that  religious 
evolution  might  tend  at  last  to  the  discovery, 
that  the  peace  given  in  the  churches  was  less 
attractive  to  the  religious  spirit  than  the  war 
promised  outside ;  that  for  one  man  who  wanted 
to  be  comforted  a  hundred  wanted  to  be 
stirred  ;  that  men,  even  ordinary  men,  wanted 
in  the  last  resort,  not  life  or  death,  but  drums. 
It  may  reasonably  be  said  that  of  all  out- 
rageous comparisons  one  of  the  most  curious 
must  be  this  between  the  old  evangelical 
despot  and  enthusiast  and  the  elegant  and 
almost  hedonistic  man  of  letters.  But  these 
far-fetched  comparisons  are  infinitely  the 
sanest,  for  they  remind  us  of  the  sanest  of  all 
conceptions,  the  unity  of  tilings.  A  splendid 
and  pathetic  prince  of  India,  living  in  far-off 
aeons,  came  to  many  of  the  same  conceptions 
as  a  rather  dingy  German  professor  in  the 
nineteenth  century ;  for  there  are  many 
essential   resemblances   between   Buddha  and 


28 


ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON 


Schopenhauer.     And  if  any  one  should  urge  that  lapse  of  time  might 
produce  mere  imitation,  it  is  easy  to  point  out  that  the  same  great 


Graham  Balfour  Mis.  Oshourne 


Robert  Louis  btevenson  Mrs.  Thomas  Stevenson 

From  a  photo  kindly  supplied  by  Jlfr.  Graham  Baljour 

ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON  AT   THE   HOUSE   OF  THE   HON.    B.    R.    WISE,   SYDNEY 


theory  of  evolution  was  pronounced  simultaneously  by  Darwin,  who 
became  so  grim   a    rationalist  that  he   ceased   even  to  care  for  the 


2Q 


30 


KORERT    LOUIS    STEVENSON 


arts,  and  by  Wallace,  who  lias  become  so  fiery  a  spiritualist  that  lie 
yearns  after  astrology  and  table-rapping.  Men  of  the  most  widely 
divergent  types  are  connected  by  these  invisible  cords  across  the 
world,  and  Stevenson  was  essentially  a  Colonel  in  the  Salvation  Army. 
He  believed,  that  is  to  say.  in  making  religion  a  military  affair.  His 
militarism,  of  course,  needs  to  be  carefully  understood.  It  was  con- 
sidered entirely  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  person  righting.  It  had 
none  of  that  evil  pleasure  in  contemplating  the  killed  and  wounded, 


Mis.  Strong 


Mr.  Graham  Balfour 
R.  I..  S.  Mrs.  Stevenson 


"  w&m:ja 


mm 


■y'i 


From  a  pkoto  by  J-  Davis,  Apia,  Samoa 

ENTERTAINMENT   GIVEN   TO   THE    BAND   OF  THE   KATOOMBA    BY  MR.    AND   MRS.   ROBERT 

LOUIS   STEVENSON    AT   VAILIMA 


ROBERT   LOUIS    STEVENSON 


31 


in  realising  the  agonies  of  the  vanquished,  which  has  been  turned  by 
some  modern  writers  into  an  art,  a  literary  sin,  which,  though  only 
painted  in  black  ink  on  white  paper,  is  far  worse  than  the  mere  sin 
of  murder.      Stevenson's  militarism  was  as  free  from  all  the  mere 


ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON,    FROM    THE    MEDALLION   BY 
A.    ST.   GAUDENS 


poetry  of  conquest  and  dominion  as  the  militarism  of  an  actual 
common  soldier.  It  was  mainly,  that  is  to  say,  a  poetry  of  watches 
and  parades  and  camp-fires.  He  knew  he  was  in  the  hosts  of  the 
Lord :  he  did  not  trouble  much  about  the  enemy.  Here  is  his 
resemblance  to  that  Church  Militant,  which,  secure  only  in  its  own 


32 


ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON 


rectitude,  wages  war  upon  the  nameless  thing  which  has  tormented 
and  bewildered  us  from  the  beginning  of  the  world. 

Of  course,  this  Stevensonian  view  of  war  suggests  in  itself  that 
other  question,  touching  which  so  much  has  been  written  about  him, 
the  subject  of  childishness  and  the  child.  It  is  true,  of  course,  that  the 
splendidly  infantile  character  of  Stevenson's  mind  saved  him  from  any 
evil  arising  from  his  militarism.  A  child  can  hit  his  nurse  hard  with 
a  wooden  sword  without  being  an  aesthete  of  violence.  He  may 
enjoy  a  hard  whack,  but  he  need  not  enjoy  the  colour  harmonies  of 
black  and  blue  as  they  are  presented  in  a  bruise.  It  is  undoubtedly 
the  truth,  of  course,  that  Stevenson's  interest  in  this  fighting  side  of 
human  nature  was  mainly  childish,  that  is  to  say,  mainly  subjective. 
He  thought  of  the  whole  matter  in  the  primary  colours  of  poetic 
simplicity.      He  said  with  splendid  gusto  in  one  of  his  finest  letters  : 


THE  TOMB   OF 

ROBERT   LOUIS 

STEVENSON 

IX    SAMOA 

Reproduced  from 

"  Islands  of  the 

Southern  Seas," 

by  M.  M.  Shoemaker 

by  kind 

permission  of 

Messrs.  Putnam 


ROBERT   LOUIS    STEVENSON 


33 


i 

-■ 

I.OTO   ALOFA- 

THE 

"ROAD   OF 

THE 

LOVING 

HEART" 

Cut  by  the 

rebel  chiefs 

ill  order  to 

commemorate 

Robert  Louis 

Stevenson's 

kindness  to  them 

during  their 

imprisonment 

by  the 

European 

Powers 

":   ''    "'    | 

Reproduced  from 

Scrilmer's 

Magazine 

by  kind 

permission 

of  the 

publishers 

"  Shall  we  never  taste  blood  ? '      But  he  did  not  really  want  blood. 
He  wanted  crimson-lake. 

But  of  course,  in  the  case  of  so  light  and  elusive  a  figure  as 
Stevenson,  even  the  terms  which  have  been  most  definitely  attached 
to  him  tend  to  become  misleading  and  inadequate,  and  the  terms 
"  childlike  "  or  "  childish,"  true  as  they  are  down  to  a  very  fundamental 
truth,  are  yet  the  origin  of  a  certain  confusion.  One  of  the  greatest 
errors  in  existing  literary  philosphy  is  that  of  confusing  the  child  with 


34  ROBERT    LOUIS    STEVENSON 

the  boy.  Many  great  moral  teachers,  beginning  with  Jesus  Christ, 
have  perceived  the  profound  philosophical  importance  of  the  child. 
The  child  sees  everything  freshly  and  fully  ;  as  we  advance  in  life  it  is 
true  that  we  see  tilings  in  some  degree  less  and  less,  that  we  are  afflicted, 
spiritually  and  morally,  with  the  myopia  of  the  student.  But  the 
problem  of  the  boy  is  essentially  different  from  that  of  the  child. 
The  boy  represents  the  earliest  growth  of  the  earthly,  unmanageable 
qualities,  poetic  still,  but  not  so  simple  or  so  universal.  The  child 
enjoys  the  plain  picture  of  the  world  :  the  boy  wants  the  secret,  the 
end  of  the  story.  The  child  wishes  to  dance  in  the  sun  ;  but  the  boy 
wishes  to  sail  after  buried  treasure.  The  child  enjoys  a  flower,  and 
the  boy  a  mechanical  engine.  And  the  finest  and  most  peculiar  work 
of  Stevenson  is  rather  that  he  was  the  first  writer  to  treat  seriously 
and  poetically  the  aesthetic  instincts  of  the  boy.  He  celebrated  the 
toy  gun  rather  than  the  rattle.  Around  the  child  and  his  rattle  there 
has  gathered  a  splendid  service  of  literature  and  art ;  Hans  Andersen 
and  Charles  Kingsley  and  George  Macdonald  and  W alter  Crane  and 
Kate  Greenaway  and  a  list  of  celebrities  a  mile  long  bring  their 
splendid  gifts  to  the  christening.  But  the  tragedy  of  the  helpless 
infant  (if  it  be  a  male  infant — girls  are  quite  a  different  matter)  is 
simply  this,  that,  having  been  fed  on  literature  and  art,  as  fine  in  its 
May  as  Shelley  and  Turner  up  to  the  age  of  seven,  he  feels  within  him 
new  impulses  and  interests  growing,  a  hunger  for  action  and  knowledge, 
for  fighting  and  discovery,  for  the  witchery  of  facts  and  the  wild 
poetry  of  geography.  And  then  he  is  suddenly  dropped  with  a  crash 
out  of  literature,  and  can  read  nothing  but  "  Jack  Valiant  among  the 
Indians."  For  in  the  whole  scene  there  is  only  one  book  which  is  at 
once  literature,  like  Hans  Andersen,  and  yet  a  book  for  boys  and  not 
for  children,  and  its  name  is  "  Treasure  Island." 

G.  K.  Chesterton. 


1HE   LAST 


OF   MOUNT  VAEA. 


HOME    FROM    THE    HILL.* 

By   W.    ROBERTSON  NICOLL. 

"Home  is  the  sailor,  home  from  the  sea, 
And  the  hunter  home  from  the  hill." 


LET  the  weary  body  lie 
Where  he  chose  its  grave, 
"'Neath  the  wide  and  starry  sky, 

J  J  7 

By  the  Southern  wave  ; 
While  the  island  holds  her  trust 

And  the  hill  keeps  faith, 
Through  the  watches  that  divide 

The  lonfj  niu'ht  of  death. 


R.  L.  S. 

In  the   fields  and  woods  we  hear  him 

Laugh  and  sing  and  sigh  ; 
Or  where  by  the  Northern  breakers 

Sea-birds  troop  and  cry ; 
Or  where  over  lonelv  moorlands 

Winter  winds  fly  fleet ; 
Or  by  sunny  graves  he  hearkens 

Voices  low  and  sweet. 


But  the  spirit,  free  from  thrall, 

Now  goes  forth  of  these 
To  its  birthright,  and  inherits 

Other  lands  and  seas  : 
We  shall  find  him  when  we  seek  him 

In  an  older  home, — 
Bv  the  hills  and  streams  of  childhood 

Tis  his  weird  to  roam. 

*  First  published  in  Blackwood  s  Magazine,  February,  1895. 

35 


We  have  lost  him,  we  have  found  him: 

Mother,  he  was  fain 
Nimbly  to  retrace  his  footsteps  ; 

Take  his  life  again 
To  the  breast  that  first  had  warmed  it, 

To  the  tried  and  true, — 
He  has  come,  our  well  beloved, 

Scotland,  back  to  you  ! 

Reprinted  by  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Blackwood- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTE 


The  birthplace 
of  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson 
see  page  3 


No.  17,  Heriot 
Row,  Edinburgh 

see  page  5 

Swanston 
Cottage 

see  page  7 


Colinton  Manse 
see  page  6 


The  Rev.  Lewis 
Balfour,  grand- 
father of  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson 

see  page  2 


ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON 

"  Thin-legged,  thin-chested,  slight  unspeakably, 
Neat-footed  and  weak-fingered  :    in  his  face — 
Lean,  large-boned,  curved  of  beak,  and  touched  with  race, 
Hold-lipped,  rich-tinted,  unliable  as  the  sea, 
The  brown  eyes  radiant  with  vivacity — - 
There  shines  a  brilliant  and  romantic  grace, 
A  spirit  intense  and  rare,   with  trace  on  trace 
Of  passion  and  impudence  and  energy." — W.   E.  HENLEY. 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  only  son  of  Thomas  Stevenson,  Civil  Engineer, 
was  born  on  November  13th,  18.50,  at  No.  8,  Howard  Place,  Edinburgh. 
The  house  was  one  of  a  row  of  unpretentious  stone  buildings,  situated  just 
north  of  the  water  of  Leitb.  When  Louis  reached  tbe  age  of  two-and-a-half, 
a  removal  was  made  to  a  more  commodious  dwelling  in  Inverleith  Terrace ; 
but  this  proving  unsuitable  to  tbe  cbild's  delicate  health,  tbe  family  settled 
at  No.  17,  Heriot  Row,  which  continued  to  be  their  Edinburgh  home  for 
thirty  years.  / 
\  Two  other  houses  were  closely  connected  with  the  pleasant  memories  of 
Stevenson's  youth — Swanston  Cottage,  the  country  residence  of  his  parents, 
and  Colinton  Manse,  the  abode  of  his  maternal  grandfather./  The  situation 
and  history  of  the  former  he  described  in  "  Picturesque  Notes  on  Edinburgh," 
indeed,  the  cottage  and  its  garden  have  been  immortalised  by  Stevenson,  both 
in  prose  and  in  verse,  "Upon  the  main  slope  of  the  Pentlands  ...  a  bouquet 
of  old  trees  stands  round  a  white  farmhouse,  and  from  a  neighbouring  dell 
you  can  see  smoke  rising  and  leaves  rustling  in  the  breeze.  Straight  above, 
the  hills  climb  a  thousand  feet  into  the  air.  The  neighbourhood,  about  the 
time  of  lambs,  is  clamorous  with  the  bleating  of  flocks ;  and  you  will  be 
awakened  in  the  grey  of  early  summer  mornings  by  the  barking  of  a  dog,  or 
the  voice  of  a  shepherd  shouting  to  the  echoes.  This,  with  the  hamlet  lying 
behind  unseen,  is  Swanston."  \  But  it  was  at  Colinton  that  Stevenson  passed 
the  happiest  days  of  his  childhood.  "  Out  of  my  reminiscences  of  life  in  that 
dear  place,  all  the  morbid  and  painful  elements  have  disappeared,"  he  wrote  ; 
"  J  can  recall  nothing  but  sunshiny  weather.  That  was  my  golden  age  :  et 
ego  in  Arcadia  man."/  In  "Memories  and  Portraits  "  he  drew  a  vivid  picture 
of  the  Manse.  "  It  was  a  place  at  that  time  like  no  other  ;  the  garden  cut 
into  provinces  by  a  great  hedge  of  beech,  and  overlooked  by  the  church  and 
the  terrace  of  the  churchyard,  where  the  tombstones  were  thick,  and  after 
nightfall  '  spunkies '  might  be  seen  to  dance,  at  least  by  children  ;  flowerpots 
lying  warm  in  sunshine  ;  laurels  and  the  great  yew  making  elsewhere  a 
pleasing  horror  of  shade  ;  the  smell  of  water  rising  from  all  round,  with  an 
added  tang  of  paper-mills  ;  the  sound  of  water  everywhere,  and  the  sound 
of  mills — the  wheel  and  the  dam  singing  their  alternate  strain  ;  the  birds 
from  every  bush  and  from  every  corner  of  the  overhanging  woods  pealing 
out  their  notes  till  the  air  throbbed  with  them  ;  and  in  the  midst  of  all  this 
tbe  Manse." 

It  was  in  tbe  same  essay  that  Stevenson  described  his  grandfather,  the 
Rev.   Lewis  Balfour,   Minister   of  Colinton,  as    "of  singular   simplicity  of 


unemotional,   and   hating   the   display   of  what   he   felt 

lover 


,    standing 
life  and  innocent  habits  to  the 


contented  on  the  old  ways  ;   a  lover  of  ins 

end."     "Now  I  often  wonder,"  he  added  later,  "what  I  have  inherited  from 

36 


BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTE 


37 


Thomas 

Stevenson,  father 
of  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson 

see  page  4 


Stevenson's 
mother 

see  page  8 


Alison 

Cunningham 
("Cummy") 
sec  page  11 


Robert  Louis 
Stevenson  at  the 
age  of  four 

see  page  1 

At  the  age 
of  six 

see  page  5 

Mr.  Thomas 
Stevenson  and 
his  son 

see  page  9 


Robert  Louis 
Stevenson  at  the 
age  of  fifteen 
see  page  10 


this  old  minister.  I  must  suppose,  indeed,  that  lie  was  fond  of  preaching 
sermons,  and  so  am  I,  though  1  never  heard  it  maintained  that  either  of  us 
loved  to  hear  them."  Of  his  father,  Stevenson  wrote  also  in  "  Memories  ami 
Portraits."  "  He  was  a  man  of  a  somewhat  antique  strain  ;  with  a  blended 
sternness  and  softness  that  was  wholly  Scottish,  and  at  first  somewhat 
bewildering;  with  a  profound  essential  melancholy  of  disposition,  and  (what 
often  accompanies  it)  the  most  humorous  geniality  in  company  ;  shrewd  and 
childish;  passionately  attached,  passionately  prejudiced;  a  man  of  many 
extremes,  many  faults  of  temper,  and  no  very  stable  foothold  for  himself 
among  life's  troubles."  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  descriptive  sketch  of 
Stevenson's  mother  from  his  pen — a  want  probably  accounted  for  by  the  fact 
that  she  survived  him.  In  person  she  was  tall  and  graceful ;  her  vivacity 
and  brightness  were  most  attractive,  and  some  idea  of  her  undaunted  energy 
and  spirit  may  be  gathered  from  Mr.  Cope  Cornford's  "  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson,"  in  which  he  says  of  Mrs.  Thomas  Stevenson,  "  At  past  sixty, 
after  a  lifetime  of  conventional  Edinburgh,  this  lady  broke  up  the  house  in 
Heriot  Row,  removed  herself  and  her  belongings  to  Apia,  learned  to  ride 
bare-backed  and  to  go  bare-footed,  and  took  on  the  life  at  Vailima  and  the 
life  of  Tusitala's  native  friends  with  equal  gusto  and  intelligence.  Stevenson 
was  fond  of  calling  himself  a  tramp  and  a  gipsy,  and  that  he  could  do  so  with 
justice  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  his  mother  was  Margaret  Balfour."/ 

\  Another    important   factor    in   his    early   life   was    the   devotion    of  his 
nurse,  Alison  Cunningham,   "Cummy,"  as  he  invariably  called  her,  whose 


care 


during 


his  ailing  childhood  did  so  much  both  to  preserve  his  life 
and  foster  his  love  of  tales  and  poetry,  and  of  whom,  until  his  death,  he 
thought  with  the  utmost  constancy  of  affection.  "My  dear  old  nurse," 
he  wrote  to  her,  " — and  you  know  there  is  nothing  a  man  can  say  nearer 
his  heart,  except  his  mother  or  his  wife — my  dear  old  nurse,  God  will  make 
good  to  you  all  the  good  that  you  have  done,  and  mercifully  forgive  you 
all  the  evil."/' 

In  his  nurse's  possession  there  remains  a  treasured  album  containing  a 
series  of  photographs  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  dating  from  babyhood 
onwards  :  the  first,  as  an  infant  on  his  mother's  knee  ;  the  second,  at  the  age 
of  twenty  months  ;  and  again,  at  four  years  old,  with  bright,  dark  eyes,  wide 
apart,  and  stiff  curls  framing  his  face.  In  the  next,  taken  at  the  age  of  six, 
his  hair  is  cropped  to  a  manlike  shortness.  His  hands  have  lost  their  baby 
podginess,  and  are  nervous,  long-fingered.  He  has  a  whip  in  his  grasp, 
which  falls  slackly  down,  as  if  toys  were  not  in  his  line,  and  he  looks 
pensively  ahead.  A  few  years  later  he  was  photographed  with  his  father,  on 
whose  shoulder  one  hand  is  resting,  the  other  being  tucked,  boyishly,  into 
his  pocket.  "Stevenson  calls  himself  'ugly'  in  his  student  days,"  writes 
Mr.  Baildon ;  "but  I  think  this  is  a  term  that  never  at  any  time  fitted 
him.  Certainly  to  him  as  a  boy  about  fourteen  (with  the  creed  which  he 
propounded  to  me,  that  at  sixteen  one  was  a  man)  it  would  not  apply.  In 
body  Stevenson  was  assuredly  badly  set  up.  His  limbs  were  long  and  lean 
and  spidery,  and  his  chest  flat,  so  as  almost  to  suggest  some  malnutrition, 
such  sharp  angles  and  corners  did  his  joints  make  under  his  clothes.  Rut  in 
his  face  this  was  belied.  His  brow  was  oval  and  full,  over  soft  brown  eyes, 
that  seemed  already  to  have  drunk  the  sunlight  under  southern  vines.  The 
whole  face  had  a  tendency  to  an  oval  Madonna-like  type.  But  about  the 
mouth  and  in  the  mirthful,  mocking  light  of  the  eyes,  there  lingered  ever  a 
ready  Autolycus  roguery,  that  rather  suggested  the  sly  god  Hermes  mas- 
querading as  a  mortal.  The  eyes  were  always  genial,  however  gaily  the 
lights  danced  in  them  ;  but  about  the  mouth  there  was  something  a  little 
tricksy  and  mocking,  as  of  a  spirit  that  already  peeped  behind  the  scenes  of 
life's  pageant  and  more  than  guessed  its  unrealities." 


38 


BIOGRAPHICAL   NOTE 


Stevenson  at  the 
age  of  twenty 
see  page-  10 


Robert  Louis 
Stevenson  at  the 
age  of 
twenty-five 

see  page  13 
Robert  Louis 
Stevenson  in  the 
"Barfs  "hat,  1876 

see  page  13 

Robert  Louis 
Stevenson  in 
fancy  dress 
see  page  9 


Mrs.  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson 

see  page  1 5 


Chalet  la  Soli- 
tude, Hyeres 
see  page  14 


A  Photograph 
taken  in 
America,  1887 
see  page  16 


Molokai,  the 
terrible  leper 
settlement 

see  page  17 


Stevenson's 
house  at  Vailima 
see  page  18 


Three-and-a-half  years  were  employed  by  Stevenson  in  preparation 
for  the  profession  of  civil  engineer.  He  spent  the  winter  and  some- 
times the  summer  sessions  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  In  1871, 
however,  he  informed  his  father  of  his  inclination  to  follow  literary 
pursuits.  Engineering  was  given  up  forthwith,  and  it  was  arranged 
that  lie  should  study  for  the  Scottish  Bar,  to  which  he  was  called  in 
July  L875.  / 

In  the  photograph  on  page  13  yon  have  him  "bewigged  as  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson,  Advocate,  and  there  is  the  suspicion  of  a  playful  duplicity  in  the 
would-be  wisdom-framed  face." 

V  It  was  at  this  period  that  Stevenson  came  in  close  companionship  with 
Sir  Walter  Simpson,  "the  Bart.,"  who  was  also  studying  Law.  Sir  Walter 
figured  as  "The  Cigarette"  to  Stevenson's  "Arethusa"  in  "The  Inland 
Voyage." 

From  the  days  of  his  toy  theatre  onwards,  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  had 
always  taken  an  intense  interest  in  matters  theatrical,  and,  with  another  of 
his  friends,  Fleeming  Jenkin,  he  took  part  in  numerous  amateur  performances. 
The  portrait  in  fancy  dress  was  no  doubt  the  outcome  of  this  favourite 
pursuit. 

On  his  return  with  Sir  Walter  Simpson  from  the  Inland  Voyage, 
Stevenson  became  acquainted  with  Mrs.  Osbourne,  who  was  later  to  become 
his  wife.     The  marriage  took  place  in  San  Francisco  in  the  spring  of  1880. 

In  the  hope  of  finding  a  climate  suited  to  his  health,  Stevenson  went 
abroad  at  the  close  of  1882,  and  settled  for  a  time  at  Hyeres,  where,  by  the 
end  of  March  1883,  he  was  established  in  a  house  of  his  own — the  Chalet  La 
Solitude.  This  was  a  picturesque  cottage,  built  in  the  Swiss  manner,  on  the 
slope  of  the  hill  just  above  the  town,  and  here,  for  some  eight  or  nine  months, 
he  enjoyed  the  happiest  period  of  his  life.  "  We  all  dwell  together  and  make 
fortunes  in  the  loveliest  house  you  ever  saw,  with  a  garden  like  a  fairy  story, 
and  a  view  like  a  classical  landscape,"  he  wrote.  "Little?  Well,  it  is  not 
large.  But  it  is  p]den  and  Beulah  and  the  Delectable  Mountains  and 
Eldorado  and  the  Hesperidean  Isles  and  Bimini."/ 

VYear  after  year  the  struggle  against  ill-health  was  increasing,  and  in  1887 
Stevenson's  uncle,  Dr.  George  Balfour,  insisted  on  a  complete  change  of 
climate,  and  a  second  voyage  to  America  was  undertaken.  In  the  following 
June  began  the  South  Sea  cruises,  which,  after  three  years  of  wandering, 
culminated  in  the  period  of  settled  residence  at  Samoa./'' 

While  in  the  South  Seas,  in  1889,  Stevenson  paid  a  visit  to  Molokai, 
the  leper  settlement  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  which  resulted  in  his  famous 
"  Letter  to  Dr.  Hyde,"  in  defence  of  Father  Damian,  who  died  a  month 
previous  to  his  arrival.  "The  place  as  regards  scenery  is  grand,  gloomy, 
and  bleak,"  he  wrote,  describing  the  settlement.  "  Mighty  mountain  walls 
descending  sheer  along  the  whole  face  of  the  island  into  a  sea  unusually 
deep  ;  the  front  of  the  mountain,  ivied  and  furred  with  clinging  forest, 
one  viridescent  cliff ;  about  half  way,  from  east  to  west,  the  low,  bare,  stony 
promontory  edged  in  between  the  cliff  and  the  ocean  ;  the  two  little  towns 
(Kalawao  and  Kalaupapa)  seated  on  either  side  of  it,  as  bare  almost  as 
bathing,  machines  upon  a  beach  ;  and  the  population  gorgons  and  chimaeras 
dire." 

About  three  miles  inland,  on  the  hills  above  Apia  (the  chief  town  of 
Qpolu  in  the  Samoan  group),  the  Stevensons  made  their  home  in  November 
1890.  The  house  itself  was  erected  on  a  clearing  of  some  three  hundren 
acres,  between  two  streams,  from  the  westernmost  of  which  the  steep  side  of 
Vaea  mountain,  covered  with  forest,  rose  to  a  height  of  thirteen  hundred  feet 
above  the  sea.  From  this  stream  and  its  four  tributaries  the  estate  was  called 
Vailima,  the  Samoan  name  for  Five  Waters.     "This  is  a  hard  and  interesting 


BIOGRAPHICAL   NOTE 


31) 


Dining-  and 
reception  hall  at 
Vailima 

see  page  21 


Stevenson  and 
his  favourite 
horse,  "Jack" 
see  page  23 


Entertainment 
given  to  the 
band  of  the 

iiatoombit    by 

the  Stevensons 

see  page  30 


Tembinoka,  the 
King  of 
Apemama 

see  page  24 


Mataafa,  the 
"  Rebel "  King 

see  pa^e  24. 


ami  beautiful  life  that  we  lead  now,"  he  wrote.  "Our  place  is  in  a  deep  cleft 
of  Vaea  mountain,  some  six  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  embowered  in  forest, 
which  is  our  strangling  enemy  and  which  we  combat  witb  axes  and  dollars." 
The  house  was  built  of  wood  throughout,  painted  a  dark  green  outside,  witb 
a  red  roof  of  corrugated  iron.  The  building  was  finally  enlarged  in  com- 
patibility with  tbe  requirements  of  the  family,  and  consisted,  after  December 
1892,  of  three  rooms,  bath,  storeroom,  and  cellars  below,  with  five  bedrooms 
and  library  upstairs.  On  the  ground  floor  a  verandah,  twelve  feet  deep,  ran 
in  front  of  the  whole  house  and  along  one  side  of  it.  The  chief  feature  of 
the  interior  was  the  large  hall.  "My  house  is  a  great  place,"  he  added 
on  another  occasion  ;  "  we  have  a  hall  fifty  feet  long,  with  a  great  red-wood 
stair  ascending  from  it,  where  we  dine  in  state."  The  two  posts  of  the  big 
staircase  were  guarded  by  a  couple  of  Burmese  gilded  idols.  , 

Stevenson  gave  many  glimpses  of  his  life  at  Vailima  in  his  letters  to 
Mr.  Sidney  Colvin.  The  following  extract  seems  typical : — "I  know  pleasure 
still ;  pleasure  with  a  thousand  faces  and  none  perfect,  a  thousand  tongues 
all  broken,  a  thousand  hands  and  all  of  them  with  scratching  nails.  High 
among  these  I  place  the  delight  of  weeding  out  here  alone  by  the  garrulous 
water,  under  the  silence  of  tbe  high  wood,  broken  by  incongruous  sounds  of 
birds.  And  take  my  life  all  through,  look  at  it  fore  and  back  and  upside 
down — though  I  would  very  fain  change  myself — I  would  not  change  my 
circumstances."  / 

His  favourite  exercise  was  riding,  and  he  was  an  excellent  horseman. 
".Tack,"  the  New  Zealand  pony  which  he  bought  in  1890,  carried  him  well. 
"  I  do  not  say  my  Jack  is  anything  extraordinary,  he  is  only  an  island 
horse,  and  the  profane  might  call  him  a  Punch,  and  his  face  is  like  a 
donkey's,  and  natives  have  ridden  him  and  be  has  no  mouth  in  consequence, 
and  occasionally  shies.  But  his  merits  are  equally  surprising,  and  I  don't 
think  I  should  ever  have  known  Jack's  merits  if  I  had  not  been  riding  up  of 
late  on  moonless  nights."    / 

\  It  was  Stevenson's  great  delight  to  keep  open  house  at  Vailima,  and 
especially  to  organise  any  festivity  in  which  the  natives  could  share.  / An 
example  of  this  hospitality  was  the  entertainment  given  to  the  band  of  the 
Katoomba,  on  September  12th,  1893.  "  I  got  leave  from  Captain  Bickford  to 
have  the  band  of  the  Katoomba  come  up,  and  they  came,  fourteen  of  'em, 
with  drum,  fife,  cymbals  and  bugles,  blue  jackets,  white  caps,  and  smiling 
faces.  The  house  was  all  decorated  with  scented  greenery  above  and  below. 
We  had  not  only  our  nine  outdoor  workers,  but  a  contract  party  that  we  took 
on  in  charity  to  pay  their  war-fine  ;  the  band  besides,  as  it  came  up  the 
mountain,  had  collected  a  following  of  children  by  the  way,  and  we  had  a 
picking  of  Samoan  ladies  to  receive  them.  They  played  to  us,  they  danced, 
they  sang,  they  tumbled." 

\  Stevenson's  influence  with  the  natives  was  probably  as  great  as  that  of  any 
white  resident  in  the  islands.  He  was  certainly  respected  by  them  as  a  whole, 
and  by  many  he  was  beloved.  Indeed,  his  friendship  with  Tembinoka,  the 
king  of  Apemama,  whose  character  is  described  in  "The  South  Seas,"  forms 
an  important  episode  in  that  volume.  "  He  is  the  Napoleon  of  the  group, 
poet,  tyrant,  altogether  a  man  of  mark.  ( I  got  power,'  is  his  favourite  word  ; 
it  interlards  his  conversation."  Another  chief,  with  whom  Stevenson  was 
in  great  sympathy,  was  Mataafa,  the  "  rebel "  kin 
banished  in  August  1893,  upon  outbreak  of  war 


5 
n  the 


who  was  defeated  and 
sland.     Mataafa  he 


believed  to  be  the  one  man  of  governing  capacity  among  the  native  chiefs, 


and  it  was  his  desire  that  the  Powers  should  conciliate  rather  than  crusii 

Mataafa  is  the  nearest  thing  to  a  hero  in  my  history,  and  really 

plenty  of  sense,    and    the    most    dignified,    quiet,    gentle 


linn.      ' 

a    tine    fellow 

manners.' 


40 


BIOGRAPHICAL   NOTE 


H.M.3.    1  inarixi 

at  Apia,  Samoa 


A 


29 


Robert  Louis 
Stevenson  at 
the  house  of  the 
Hon.  B.  R.  Wise 

Stt  page   28 


Ala  Loto  Alofa, 
the  "  Road  of  the 
Loving  Heart" 
see  page  33 

Kava  Drinking 
at  the  opening 
of  the  "Ala  Loto 
Alofa,"  Oct.  1894. 
see  page  25 


The  last  resting- 
place  of  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson 
on  the  summit 
of  Mount  Vaea 
see  page  35 


The  tomb  of 
Robert  Louis 
Stevenson  in 
Samoa 

see  page  32 


During  Stevenson's  four  years'  residence  in  Samoa,  no  fewer  than  eight 
British  men-of-war  entered  the  harbour,  and  at  the  time  of  the  bombardment 
of  the  rebels  of  Atua,  1 1.  M.S.  Cunifoa  was  more  often  stationed  at  Apia  than 
any  of  the  others.  *'  We  have  in  port  the  model  warship  of  Great  Britain," 
lie  wrote,  describing  a  cruise  to  .Manna:  "she  is  called  the  Curagoa  ...  a 
ship  thai  I  would  guarantee  to  go  anywhere  it  was  possible  for  men  to  go, 
and  accomplish  anything  it  was  permitted  man  to  attempt." 

After  taking  up  his  abode  at  Vailima,  Stevenson  only  twice  returned  to  the 
world  of  populous  cities.  In  the  early  part  of  1893  he  spent  several  weeks  in 
Sydney,  where  lie  visited  bis  friend,  the  lion.  H.  11.  Wise.  In  September  of  the 
same  year  be  made  a  voyage  to  Honolulu.  ( )n  his  return  to  Apia  in  November, 
he  was  gratified  by  the  mark  of  esteem  and  gratitude  extended  to  him  by  the 
native  chiefs,  who  cleared,  dug,  and  completed  the  road  to  Vailima — till  then 
a  mere  track,  which  could  only  be  traversed  in  dry  weather  by  wagons  or  by 
a  buggy,  goods  being  taken  to  the  house  by  two  New  Zealand  pack-horses. 
On  the  estate  itself  the  route  lay  by  a  lane  of  limes,  and  this  was  cut  off  by 
the  Ala  Loto  Alofa,  or  "  Road  of  the  Loving  Heart,"  which  the  chiefs  cut  to 
commemorate  Stevenson's  kindness  to  them  during  their  imprisonment  by  the 
European  Powers.  "Considering  the  great  love  of  Tusitala,  in  his  loving 
care  of  us  in  our  distress  in  the  prison,  we  have  therefore  prepared  a  splendid 
gift.  It  shall  never  he  muddy,  it  shall  endure  for  ever,  this  road  that  we 
have  dug."  Upon  its  completion  a  great  Kava  drinking  was  held,  there  was 
a  solemn  returning  of  thanks,  and  Stevenson  gave  an  address,  which  was  his 
best  and  most  outspoken  utterance  to  the  people  of  Samoa. 

<  Only  two  months  later,  on  December  3rd,  1894,  Stevenson  died.  He  was 
in  his  forty-fifth  year.  The  Union  .lack  which  flew  over  the  house  was  hauled 
down  and  placed  over  the  body  as  it  lay,  in  the  hall  where  he  had  spent  some 
of  the  most  delightful  hours  of  his  life. 

••  His  devoted  Samoans  cut  an  almost  perpendicular  pathway  to  the  top  of 
the  mountain  Vaea,  which  he  had  designed  as  his  last  resting-place.  Thither 
with  almost  herculean  labours  they  bore  him,  and  decked  his  grave  with 
costly  presents,  of  the  most  valuable  and  highly-prized  mats.  There  he  lies, 
by  a  strange,  almost  ironic  fate,  under  other  stars  than  ours.  Driven  forth, 
not,  thank  God,  by  neglect  nor  by  any  injustice  of  man,  but  by  the  scourge  of 
sickness  and  threat  of  death  and  the  unfriendliness  of  his  native  skies,  into 
his  beautiful  exile  amid  tropic  seas,  he  draws,  and  long  will  draw,  perhaps 
while  the  language  lasts,  with  a  strange  tenderness,  the  hearts  of  men  to  that 
far  and  lonely  Samoan  mount." 

^  On  the  tombstone,  built  of  great  blocks  of  cement,  are  carved  the  Scotch 
thistle  and  the  native  ante,  and  between  them  is  a  bronze  plate  bearing  the 
following  inscription,  his  own  requiem  : — 

"  Under  the  wide  and  starry  sky 
Dig  the  grave  and  let  me  die  ; 
Glad  did  I  live  and  gladly  die, 

And  I  laid  me  down  with  a  will. 
This  be  the  verse  you  grave  for  me, — 
Here  he  lies  where  he  longed  to  be  ; 
Home  is  the  sailor,  home  from  the  sea, 
And  the  hunter  home  from  the  hill." 


Printed  by  Hazell,   Watson  &*  Viney,  Ld.,  London  and  Aylesbury. 


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